Desert Island Dish with Tare's Michael Carranza
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Photo illustration: Axios Visuals. Photo: Courtesy of Tare
As part of our running feature about Austin chefs' favorite meals, we recently caught up with Michael Carranza, chef and co-owner of Tare, which earned a mention in the new Michelin Texas Guide.
Background: Carranza grew up in Sinton — "my grandma made sure we ate anything we caught or killed," he tells Axios — and graduated in 2014 from Le Cordon Bleu in Austin.
- He started his career at Uchi, where he worked his way up from prep to head sushi chef. He then went on to help open the now-closed Pacific Asian restaurant She's Not Here. He later joined Musashino, training under sushi master Takehiko Fuse.
Dig in: Carranza calls on his South Texas roots at his 15-course omakase off Parmer Lane.
- Examples include Japanese shrimp sushi tamales and an aguachile of dry-aged ocean trout with serrano peppers and strawberries.
- A dessert of matcha tres leches cake was conceived by the restaurant's pastry chef, Danielle Martinez — who is also Carranza's girlfriend.
- He and Martinez also run Texas Sushiko on St. Elmo Road.
You're marooned on a desert island. If you could have one dish, what would it be?
MC: "As far as a desert island meal, keeping it Austin-based, I'd have to say the scallop dish at Hestia, which they prepare with a beef tallow and green tomatoes. The flavor profile is really awesome — it's warm but not overcooked. That and Hestia's halibut dish — slow-cooked, almost poached, with a cream sauce over it. Hestia's seafood is what I'd want."
You can bring a dessert.
MC: "I'd say Danielle's matcha tres leches at Tare. Every single time I have it I think, 'Dang.' I like that it's not so bitter — it's made with a homemade vanilla bean cream, prepared with a stick blender, making it tighter and silkier. She finishes it with Maldon sea salt."
What are you drinking on your desert island?
MC: "A Fierce Whiskers bourbon. [Co-founders] Tri and Tim are my friends. And I love making cocktails with their stuff."